India, Maldives And Sri Lanka Conduct ‘Dosti’ Exercises In Indian Ocean

Coast guard personnel from India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka are participating in four-day trilateral exercises to identify new marine challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, to improve maritime security and interoperability.

Indian Coast Guard tweeted, “The sea exercise under #DOSTI -XVI involving five Coast Guard ships from #India, #Maldives and #SriLanka conducted today at Male, #Maldives”, through its official ‘X’ handle.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) tweeted, “MNDF welcomes participating ships from India and Sri Lanka for the Trilateral Joint Exercise “DOSTI-16″ from Feb 22-25. Coast Guards of Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka, along with observers from Bangladesh, join in this biennial event to enhance collaboration between the forces”, through its official ‘X’ handle.

The Indian Coast Guard ships Samarth and ICGS Abhinav, as well as the Sri Lanka Naval Ship Samudura, arrived on Thursday for the ‘DOSTI-16’ exercise, which runs from February 22 to February 25. Bangladesh is participating as an observer.

The Coast Guard helicopter ICGS Dornier is also part of the trilateral exercise ‘Dosti’, which Sri Lanka says aims to boost collaboration, strengthen friendship, improve mutual operational capability, and develop interoperability among Coast Guard troops from India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

Late Thursday evening, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) warmly welcomed ADG S Paramesh, Additional Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.

The ICG ships would participate in several events, including a joint sea exercise with the Sri Lanka Coast Guard and the Maldives National Defence Force.

The Indian Mission in Maldives termed the 16th iteration of the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka trilateral exercise ‘Dosti’ as a regional synergy to enhance maritime security & interoperability!

Before its ship went for the Maldives, the Sri Lankan Navy issued a statement saying, “Participating in this nature of exercises will allow the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance cooperation and interoperability with other maritime stakeholders in the region”.

“It (also) offers numerous advantages, including acquiring new knowledge about maritime operations, exchanging strategies and experiences, identifying emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region, and collaboratively finding solutions for them”, the Sri Lankan Navy continued.

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